Downy brome, formally known as bromus tectorum, has infested ditch-sides and forage land across the southern Prairies and has become a serious pest for winter wheat growers and cattle ranches. This fall germinator overwinters well as a fall annual, but in dry years it will also function well as a spring annual weed. It reproduces […] Read more
Tag Archives Weed of the Week Archive
Downy brome
Japanese brome grass
Japanese brome grass, a cool season annual, is native to the eastern region of Japan, as the name bromus japonicus implies, and central Europe. It is considered an invasive alien species and competes with native perennials for resources in pastures and where reclamation is taking place on oil and gas sites, roadsides and where water […] Read more
Weed of the Week: Foxtail Barley
Foxtail barley has benefited from increased use of reduced tillage. It is a prolific seed producer and has become a growing problem across Western Canada. Hordeum jubatum is also known as wild barley or other names that compare the weed’s bushy awns to the tails of a number of mammals. Foxtail barley is often confused […] Read more
Weed of the Week: Common burdock
Common burdock is a tenacious biennial weed that reproduces from seed. It is the seed that makes this weed such a pest. The plant’s burrs are two to three millimetres with barbed bristles that stick to nearly any hair or fibre. Animals can become heavily burdened by these seeds. The weed is heavily branched up […] Read more
Weed of the Week: dandelion
The demise of tillage sparked the rise of dandelions. The tap-rooted pest has become a problem for producers in regions where it was once found in pastures, alfalfa fields and roadside ditches. The weed, formally known as taraxacum officinale, survives cursory cultivation by discers and usually succumbs only to a deeply set sweep followed by […] Read more
Portulaca
Portulaca orleracea often fails to distinguish itself in wetter years from other, larger and more aggressive weeds. However, in dry years the succulent shows off its ability to retain and seek moisture for survival. The weed, also known as purslane, pursley, pussley and duckweed, is popular in other parts of the world as an ornamental […] Read more
Weed of the week: redroot pigweed
Redroot pigweed is an annual pest that resists Groups 2 and 5 herbicides in some cases. The weed, formally, known as Amaranthus retroflexus, produces more than 100,000 seeds in a season. It is an aggressive plant that can do significant harm to yields in noncompetitive crops such as flax. With a long and large, reddish […] Read more
Shepherd’s purse
The move to reduced tillage has created new weed problems and provided new opportunities for control. Winter annual weeds fall into both categories. They can be controlled with tillage, but that comes with the high costs of moisture, labour, fuel, soil condition and time. Weeds such as narrow-leaved hawk’s beard, stinkweed, cleavers, flixweed and shepherd’s […] Read more
Locoweed
Unlike many prairie weeds that cause problems, locoweed wasn’t introduced from foreign shores. It’s a native son. Locoism is the result of cellular failure of the nervous system after poisoning by an indolizidine alkaloid contained in the weed. Grazing locoweed causes livestock to show depression, lack of co-ordination and nervous behaviour in stressful situations. Animals […] Read more
Weed of the week: lady’s thumb
Lady’s thumb likes to hitch a ride in small grain seed. If allowed to reach maturity, the annual weed will shoot up ahead of the crop and then deliver its seed into the grain tank along with its host and could then be replanted the following spring. Known formally as Polygonum persicaria, lady’s thumb has […] Read more
